


I Can Be Those Answers You Seek

by Megane



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: A Character Study of Two Tsundere, Affection, Bizarre Happenings in the Secret Race Circuit, Character Study, Flashbacks, Heavy on the Imagery, Hidden/Unaddressed Feelings, Intimacy, M/M, Multiple Orgasms, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Rival Relationship, Rival Sex, Rivarly, Sequel, Service Kink, Service Top, Somewhat Experimental Writing, Tenderness, implied marathon sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 09:47:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30070389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megane/pseuds/Megane
Summary: “Twenty minutes. Don’t be late.”“Bite—”The line went dead. Of course it did; the beep in his ear was the only sign that Kaoru had done the expected, and Kojiro’s lips curled up at the corners.Good to know he was finally getting off on parole. Four days felt like hell.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Kudos: 79





	I Can Be Those Answers You Seek

**Author's Note:**

> A companion piece to _[How These Rumours Led Me To You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30051129)_ from Joe's POV...ish. There were certain things that I wanted to add in the last one but didn't have the time to. And then... it got out of my hands.

It had been only four days, but it felt like a prison sentence.

Kojiro had called out sick from work for the week, and he chose to see it as an excuse to finally make use of his accumulating PTO. He kept off social media, which wasn’t terribly difficult for him anyway. His alerts had been set to go off for urgent notifications from his mutuals — thirty-six hours in, he ended up turning off his alerts entirely. He spent the hours catching up on shows and skating compilations he had bookmarked for ages. When the temperature cooled down, he took a long walk in the evenings just… thinking.

The race he lost had been odd. That whole night took a weird turn when he was approached.

_All the energy was in the right place; everyone was hyped and shit-talking. SHADOW was weaving through the crowd, disparaging the newcomers, and picking on his favourites. Everyone seemed to be in the right headspace, all the usual pieces were there, but then_ they _showed up._

_Joe would’ve believed this person was a bonafide mummy if it wasn’t for the outdated fashion sense. Or maybe it was the type of retro that just hadn’t caught on yet. They had on a gaudy, colourblocked cropped hoodie; torn, oversized denim shorts; and high tops that looked about as old as Joe was. All of these clothes protected the sinuous body which had been wrapped head to toe in bandages. He suspected that this person’s eyes were uncovered (quietly hoped so for their safety), but the large hood sat firm over the top of their head._

_“You Joe?”_

_He brightened up then, sliding a hand into his pocket. The sleeve of his jacket slipped further down his arm, revealing more of his muscular chest. “That’s me.”_

_“I’ve got beef with you.”_

_Those close by turned immediately and “ooh”ed. Their attention drew the eyes of others, and soon, a circle of bodies formed. Women pressed against Joe, shaking him and hyping him up. Men pointed at the newcomer, questioning their look and throwing out admittedly clever quips. But this person’s focus never drifted. Joe knew that they were focused on him. And maybe it was just him, but the air around him changed. He swore that he could feel this person smiling._

_He rolled back a shoulder to shake off his discomfort before tilting his head left and right to stretch his neck. “You got a name?”_

_“No,” came the quick and amused reply, “and I don’t need one.”_

_Joe’s eyes dropped down to their board. The grip tape was peeling near the toe, and even though the underside wasn’t revealed to him, he could easily see how beaten up the sides were. At least this wasn’t a novice. He could get some entertainment out of his strange encounter._

_“Name the stakes.”_

 _More excitement. Some of the women began to cheer for him before he even won. He wasn’t enough of a saint to pretend that wasn’t doing wonders for his ego. His smirk widened just a bit, his way of acknowledging them, but just like the stranger across from him, his gaze never wandered. He saw how the bandages crinkled where their cheeks were. They were smiling,_ grinning _. This was just what they wanted._

_“Go silent for a whole week.”_

_Joe raised his brows. That was pretty lowkey. Harmless, even, in a place like this._

_“That’s it?”_

_“That’s it.” They shrugged nonchalantly, but Joe felt this was anything but._

_“I’m game.”_

_Cheers broke out, and the crowd parted for them. Fingers slipped reluctantly from Joe’s body as he popped his board into his awaiting hand. He wouldn’t flatter himself into thinking this would be easy, but he was far from worried._

_Twin sounds of wood rattling. People began to cheer for Joe; contrarians cheered for the other skater, yelling things like “Zombie”, “Mummy”, and “Pharaoh” because they didn’t have a name. This mysterious someone didn’t seem too bothered. If anything, Joe swore they were grinning ear to ear._

_They dropped down into the slope to the sounds of whistling and throat rendering screams of encouragement. As they rounded the first corner, the bandaged skater was just a hair ahead, but then they looked over their shoulder — Joe saw a flash of blue and red—_

_He never even made it to the bottom._

_He pulled himself up, dazed, from where he had landed on his neck. The pain was sharp and intense. One of his legs had curled around a rock, but nothing seemed broken. He tested his walk, and he would have been glad if nothing was even fractured. Every nerve in his body was screaming. He looked around to see where he was. He could tell, just from this vantage point, that he had made it halfway at least._

_But there was no one else around_.

His phone rang as if it was angry at him, and he picked it up from his stomach without looking. He answered with a swipe of his thumb and hovered the device near his ear.

“Hello?”

_“Hey, idiot.”_

Kojiro smiled and hoped it wouldn’t transfer to his voice. “… Ah. To what do I owe the pleasure of His Most Honourable Bastard calling me personally?”

It wasn’t uncommon for Kaoru to call him out of the blue in spite of the way he regarded Kojiro with such vitriol. The fact that it took him four days to pick up his phone, well, maybe he did have some self-control after all. Kojiro went through the motions of their conversation, feeling himself rising to every verbal bait. Every bard made him feel so much more present, so much more aware of his surroundings. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and tried not to yawn into the phone.

_“Twenty minutes. Don’t be late.”_

“Bite—”

The line went dead. Of course it did; the beep in his ear was the only sign that Kaoru had done the expected, and Kojiro’s lips curled up at the corners.

Good to know he was finally getting off on parole. Four days felt like hell.

When he arrived at the — fucking what was this, a drug den? — he couldn’t keep the scowl off his face. The street lights had grown dim as he navigated through the back alleys. He kept his posture relaxed, even as he eyed rusty fire exits and tipped over trash cans. Was Kaoru so pissed at him for going dark that he was about to knock him off? Kojiro wouldn’t put it past him; that pretty face hid some heinous secrets. Nothing came for him though as he found his destination, so he parked himself next to the front door and waited. He carefully scrolled through his notifications, making sure not to like anything as he did.

He fell down a rabbit hole easily; he went from post to post, reply to reply, trying to figure out if there was any evidence from last night. But there were no videos, no audio commentary past the usual. Posts were made about Joe’s disappearance, and that was about _it_.

**_**n u e y @peechesncreem 12h** _ **

_do u think he lost?_

**_**└ G.O.stigma @go0o0o0o 10h** _ **

_usually i’d be like ‘no way’ but like i haven’t seen him in a minute_

 _is he ok???_ 😰 _  
_

 **_**└** _ ** **_**Nightmare VARIANT @antiSICK180_off** _ ** **_**10h** _ **

_You think he got grabbed by those weird guys they posted about on s/k0?_

There was a link. Kojiro was just about to tap on it when he heard Kaoru’s voice. His body registered it before his mind could catch up. He snapped his attention over, hoping he didn’t look as frantic as he felt. Thankfully, he had something to redirect his attention to the tea in Kaoru’s hand because of course he would show up late against his own advice and with food for himself. Their greeting wasn’t really much of one at all, but it easily took Kojiro’s attention away from where it was. He was back in the here and now, back in this bizarre, dim hell he found himself in. He wasn’t entirely sure that this wasn’t a trap or a very elaborate prank.

He kept his eyes from wandering around the lobby too much when they entered; from Kaoru’s quick exchange with the receptionist, he was able to gather that this was a hotel, and that did _not_ put much confidence in him. But he clung to it, clung to this moment. His phone was burning a hole in his pocket.

It began easier to ignore the more he let himself sink into Kaoru. His voice, his barbs, the small ways he relaxed. Every step, every breath, every thought came easier. He turned the room key over in one hand, feeling along the worn leather of the fob and let himself just be _here_ for a moment. It was good that he was outside. Even with the walks, he felt like he was going a little stir crazy at home.

Getting to the room was easy, but getting inside took some work. Kojiro felt eyes on his back, and he allowed himself to smirk, knowing that Kaoru was checking him out. Oh, of course. He’d deny it til his dying breath—call him a gorilla, a narcissus (hilarious), a buffoon, and more besides—but he knew when he was being ogled. The door popped open, and old paint residue drifted to the floor.

Charming.

He glared over his shoulder, but Kaoru only rolled his eyes and pushed him in.

The room was... nice. Holy _shit_. It was _nice_. The bed was big and laden down with fine looking sheets. The pillows were all fluffed with a mint on the centermost one. The suite was small, but it looked posh enough for an executive. Kojiro passed the key from one hand to the other, unable to pull his eyes away from the navy blue curtains accented in amber from the nearby streetlights.

“This is... Is this a front for the yakuza or something? Why is it so—”

He hadn’t even noticed Kaoru in front of him. His attention was somewhere else right now, split two different ways, so the kiss came as its own surprise. But he felt into it easily. It was always like that whenever they were together. Kaoru was easy to follow, easy to bait into taking what he wanted, and Kojiro always gave and gave. He felt a deep satisfaction in providing for the smaller man that skating and bickering didn’t always give him.

The kiss was good; it made Kojiro _crave_ as if he had been starving for years. The past four days felt like months behind bars; he felt deprived of simple pleasures — a hand in his hair, teeth on his lip, a bossy motherfucker who could lay pipe like a profession.

“Where’ve you been?”

Kojiro felt himself smile, both mean and amused. He fell into the only role he had between them. His fingers curled tight in Kaoru’s jacket. “Ha. You _were_ worried.” He couldn’t help but tease. This man was made for it; he soaked it up like a bitter sponge and turned it into passion.

Or, in this case, into a flip that would have knocked the breath out of Kojiro if he hadn’t landed on a mattress. But then, Kaoru was on top of him, looking pissy and mean and hotter than anyone he had ever slept with. Kojiro’s hands found toned thighs. The fabric was tight over the muscles, and Kojiro kept himself from groping. If only because the mood had shifted slightly. He couldn’t explain why, but he felt it, knew it like a seventh sense. He sighed through his nose and let himself be questioned.

He didn’t even have to dance around the topic; there were so many things he _didn_ _’_ _t_ know about that night, and if Kaoru would have pressed, Kojiro would’ve been at a loss on how to answer. He almost wanted to dig out his phone so they could go down the rabbit hole together, but he didn’t. Instead, he laid there was Kaoru began checking his body for patched up injuries. Couldn’t even sneak in a grab or two while he was busy? Always was a tease.

“That’s... _strange_.”

That was the whole situation in a little bandaged nutshell. Kojiro felt his thoughts buzzing. The urge to fall, fall, _fall_ into the pit of the Internet was growing. He let out a breath and forced himself to sound tired of the whole thing.

“Ain’t it?”

He needed to stop fucking thinking. He had Kaoru right here literally in his lap. Kaoru, who tasted of mango and taro and coconut — he’d have to think of a joke for that. It would be stupid and lowbrow, but Kaoru would rise to the bait as always. Every time.

Four days without _this_ , without Kaoru’s sexy mean streak that never failed to get him hard; without Kaoru fucking him hard and dirty, making him feel cheap and easy all at once. Kojiro’s fingers tightened in the pillow and nearly cursed himself for being too stupid then to realise how much the silence would have affected him. It was natural for things to happen that kept him busy and away from other people — it was expected; it was part of life — but this quasi-voluntary isolation wound up him up like a watch out of sync.

Kaoru’s rhythm was punishing and fast. Kojiro barely had time to breathe before the air was punched out of his lungs again. He could have torn the pillow in half with how hard he was holding it, trying not to shove it against his face because he wanted to _yell_. Kaoru was knocking every internal screw loose, and he knew that there was going to be a mess on the sheets later.

Good, _good_. Something for him to look at later and file away for later inspiration during lonely nights.

When Kaoru pulled out of him to recuperate, Kojiro’s thighs were shaking. One foot kept curling and tensing; pleasure still fired off in his mind as his hole clenched around open air. He hurled an insult that meant nothing, and Kaoru met him expertly. It was almost rehearsed. They knew this dance better than anyone else, had lived it for what felt like lifetimes before this one.

Taro flavoured kisses kept his mind occupied as he traced his tongue over Kaoru’s. Kojiro guided the shorter man onto his back and smoothed a large hand over Kaoru’s svelte body. He was drop dead gorgeous, and this fucker knew it too. Anyone with good sense and better taste would drop down and suck his dick at the word _“_ _Go._ _”_ But he chose to be belaboured by his own beauty, put upon by his own genius and talents.

The kiss intensified, and Kaoru moaned sweetly at the turn. Surprise tasted like mango with a faint trace of coconut. Kojiro slid his hands over the back of Kaoru’s legs, choosing not to grope like the other man wanted. No, no. He was mean with his kindness; he punished with tenderness. He smiled against Kaoru’s lips when the other man whispered a curse. Kaoru grabbed at Kojiro’s shoulders, trying to get a rise out of him with harsh words, daring him to be bitter and caustic and oh whatever he usually was in their day-to-day.

But, no. And that was how Kojiro always got him. Even as he stretched Kaoru on his fingers, he didn’t rise to the bait. Instead he smiled; he chuckled. He drank up those moans like a plant taking water. Kaoru knew how good he had things; he knew what his looks gave him and where his talents landed him. But he didn’t know _this_. He didn’t know the slow stretch of affection or the blinding white ecstasy of support. Not like this. Not the way Kojiro gave it.

“I hate you,” Kaoru hissed as his fingers clawed across Kojiro’s back. His moan was a whisper of pleasure; his eyelids fluttered as his eyes rolled back. “So much.”

“‘Course you do,” Kojiro replied against his neck. One hand had tangled with long, silky pink hair. The other was pressed flat against the bed, helping keep his balance as he thrust.

Kaoru was a song that no one on Earth could have written; he was a balm to an aching soul, the end result to questions never answered. His fingers twitched; his dull nails dug and relaxed before shakily tracing down the expanse of Kojiro’s back. Only then did Kojiro build his pace, making sure to angle himself in the best way Kaoru responded. The pinched and aborted moans guided his way until his name was a wavering prayer in the air.

“C’mon, Cherry.” He pressed a kiss to Kaoru’s earlobe and whispered in his ear, “That’s it, baby. Cum for me. Y-yeah...” He stuttered when Kaoru went tight around him; he slowed his pace just a bit but made sure to bury himself to the hilt on every forward roll of his hips. “Just like that... God, _yeah_... Just like that...”

And when Kojiro was on his back again, Kaoru reciprocated in the only way he knew how. Whatever thoughts Kojiro had in his life were gone, completely erased, wiped clean from the board. It was ungodly how this man fucked; it was an exorcism of sense and self. Kojiro held his legs open dutifully, even as he dug crescents into his own skin.

“Look at me.”

How could he not? Kojiro opened his eyes, and it was a fucking struggle. Kaoru sat back onto his knees, never once faltering in his movements as he did. He gathered his long hair behind his back. His hooded stare made hm look like an emperor gazing out onto his kingdom, and — _ha, god—_ Kojiro felt seen.

“Let go.”

Kojiro turned his head to one side, his neck going tense and back arching as he came again. Kaoru’s voice was enough rend him asunder. He was an emperor watching as his kingdom burned and found immeasurable pleasure and beauty in the ashes.

Kaoru was the first to shower because he was the only one who could fucking move. He made sure to rub it in Kojiro’s face and was given a very spirited middle finger in response. He smirked as he exited.

“Don’t use up all the hot water!” Kojiro called after him, barely turning his head towards the bathroom.

“Fuck you. I paid,” was the indifferent response.

Of course. Should have expected that one.

Kojiro could move with a measure of confidence by the time Kaoru finished. The scratches on his back stung under the soap, and he couldn’t help but smile. Too bad they’d be gone by morning. When he exited, Kaoru was sitting in his underwear on the bed, flipping through his phone. Kojiro decided to join him. He pulled on his briefs and fished out his phone from his pocket —

His phone had been untouched for hours, but it burned in his palm again. The temptation was there again. He could push past it though. Kaoru was here to keep in grounded in his own way. Cool-headed as always, at least on the outside, Kojiro found his place on the bed, choosing to stretch himself out along the mattress. Kaoru sank down without commentary and rolled towards him. He stretched his arm across Kojiro’s muscled chest and continued staring at his phone.

Pink hair fell like a waterfall over his face. A thick lock of it fell away from one eye, keeping him from being completely blinded. Kojiro kept his hand on Kaoru’s back, even as he looked at it.

“What’re you posing for? Who’re you trying to impress?”

Kaoru sneered against his skin. “Not you, idiot.”

“Primadonna.”

“Gorilla.”

“Who the hell are you calling a gorilla?”

“Clearly you because you keep responding.”

 _“_ _Asshole._ _”_

 _“_ _Fuck face._ _”_

The metal bars screeched open. Four days felt like an eternity.

Kojiro was about to put his phone down when it buzzed in his hand. It was so faint he almost missed it. He turned his eyes towards the drop down notification. It was for an account he barely used and one he forgot to mute.

**_**s/k0 just now** _ **

_Consider this an act of clemency. Your silence can be broken._ （○´艸`)

Kojiro clenched his hand around his phone. He swiped up quickly to dismiss the message.

He felt Kaoru’s lashes blink against him; his gaze shifted. “Who was that?”

“Dunno,” he lied. It was heavy on his tongue. Looking down, Kaoru’s gaze was piercing.

“...Nn.”

Kaoru didn’t believe him. Kojiro set his phone face down on the end table; his other hand smoothed down the slight curve of Kaoru’s waist. “Lemme find out before I start talking bullshit.”

“It’s all you’re good for anyway,” Kaoru said without much heat. Fatigue was starting to weigh down his voice. He pressed play and then turned his phone sideways. “Watch this.”

Kojiro’s eyes found the screen without hesitation. He sat in silence for a few seconds before asking, “We spending the night?”

“Paid for it,” Kaoru muttered. “Might as well.”

And that settled that. Mysterious losses, missing boards, and broken stakes would have wait until later when the sun was full and the trip home was uneventful. Right now, he let himself be where he was needed and who he was needed to be.

Without looking, Kojiro brought his hand up to tuck the hair over Kaoru’s face behind his ear. Kaoru lifted his head higher to rest it over Kojiro’s heart. If his pulse raced this time, it was for a different reason entirely. But it was always like that between them. Kojiro never expected that to change.


End file.
